Inside The Heart
by BAM your dead
Summary: It was a normal day, that is until he found himself in the past. Confused and torn between doing whats right or following his heart, Naruto must relive his life. Starts near his fight with Neji. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Enjoy...Maybe. NO PAIRINGS


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Just writing for fun.**

 **Enjoy my terrible second attempt at this story. If any spelling errors, sorry.**

His breathing was heavy as he clutched his shirt where his heart was, It felt like his whole body was on fire. He groaned in pain, trying his best to stand up. When opening his eyes he was met with an intense burning sensation so he quickly closed them. He tried breathing slowly as he began calm down and assess the situation. Finding support from some unknown object, he opened his eyes.

The sight that greeted him was his room. His _old_ room. The one that was destroyed in peins attack. He stood there without movement as a million questions ran through his head. He parted his lips to speak, noticing his mouth was very dry, and spoke.

"Did I die or am I just dreaming?" His quiet voice echoed through the room as silence greeted him. The pain finally left his body as he found himself able to move better. Something was odd though. His body didn't feel right, it felt smaller. Looking at his hands, he was met with the hands of a child. He walked to his bathroom while observing everything around him. His room was exactly how he remembered it.

Entering the bathroom he looked into the mirror. Instantly he ran through hands seals and yelled. "Kai." But nothing happened. He fell onto the ground and sat crossed legged while closing his eyes. Slowly he entered his mindscape.

He was met with the sound of dripping water. Walking through the water he soon found himself in front of the very familiar cage. More things to add to his long list of questions. He took a deep breath and yelled. "KURAMA." Once again he was met with silence. A small sense of panic and loneliness started to crawl up his body, but he pushed it down. This was not the time to be panicking.

He was about to leave his mindscape when he heard a voice, barely a whisper but he heard it. He started to run in the direction he thought he heard it in. Running past the bars and into the very back of the cage he saw it. To be more specific, he saw him. A smile started to form on his face as he opened his mouth. "Kurama! I was looking for you, you know?" His smile instantly dropped as he saw Kurama's tired form. "What happened."

" **Don't look so serious. I'm fine, just a little chakra exhausted. Traveling back in time takes a lot out of a bijuu." Was the giant fox's reply.**

His eye's widened as all he could get out of his mouth was "oh."

" **Wipe that look of stupidity off your face and get with the program. For someone who was able to befriend me, I question your intelligence Naruto." Kurama laughed softly.**

"Oi! That's mean! I have two questions, could you be a doll and answer them?" The fox growled at him for being called a doll but Naruto continued anyway. "First: What is this program you're talking about? Second: Why the hell are we back in time?! I know I was working on a seal to go back in time but I would never use it unless something really bad accrued." Naruto exclaimed loudly, his heart beat speeding up.

 **Kurama gave him a look of annoyance and responded. "Geez. One moment everything is fine and then the next you tell me to help you travel back in time and now your demanding why we did what we did? Ungrateful mortal." Kurama huffed and glared at Naruto.**

"I told you to use the seal?! I did no such thing, you know! I wasn't even finished the seal! Now we can't get back! Ugh, Why is this so confusing?" Naruto started pacing back and forth. Turning to look at Kurama he asked "Do you know why I asked you to use the seal?"

 **Kurama looked thoughtful as he was trying to recall what happened. He looked straight into Naruto's eyes and said "I don't remember."**

They both stood there in silence when Naruto finally opened his mouth. "You don't remember?" A nod for the fox confirmed it. Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and said "Well what are we going to do?"

 **Kurama looked at him tiredly while responding "Go with the flow. Don't change anything. Try to find a way back. Let me sleep. Night." He stretched before curling up into a big fluffy ball and falling into a deep slumber.**

"Thanks for all the help." Naruto sighed. His head was killing him and nothing made sense. He retreated from his mindscape and came back to the land of the living. Getting up from his bathroom floor he made his way to the kitchen to check the calendar to see what day it was.

Tripping on his way over, he scowled at the thought of being in his weaker, younger body. Turning his head in the direction of his calendar, he found one particular day was marked with a big red circle. Inside the circle had words saying "Beat up Neji!" Naruto smiled sadly at the thought of Neji and his mind drifted to back to his time.

Shaking his head he snapped out of it, he now knew what where in time he was but he still did not know the day. He went to his closet, which was filled with mostly orange, and grabbed a plain black T-shirt and also navy blue sweat pants. Walking outside he was with a cold morning breeze. The sun was just barely starting to rise and people were only now getting their shops ready for the new day.

He smiled while looking at everything around him, taking it all in. He started to walk, not in any particular direction but just to look at how the village he loved, once looked like. He didn't know how long he had been walking but knew it was a while for the sun was now fully up. Shops were now open and streets were filled with people starting their daily routines. A ninja shop caught his eye and he patted his pocket, glad he grabbed his wallet on his way out.

Entering the shop, he walked past all the weapons and went straight towards the blank sealing paper. He grabbed a couple while also grabbing some Ink and brushes. He walked towards the counter and placed them down as the man raised his eyebrow.

"Can you afford all this brat?" The man didn't sound mean or vicious. "Do you even know how to make a seal?" He was curious as to why Naruto was buying seal supplies when he was pretty sure the boy couldn't even make a seal. There was actually barely anyone in the village that knew the Art of Sealing, so who would this boy learn from?

"Yes sir, I can afford to pay for all this." At least he thought he could, he hadn't actually looked to see how much was in his wallet. "As a matter of fact" He paused for a moment thinking about what Kurama had said to him earlier about not changing anything so he continued "Uh I was just picking these up for my teacher. He was too lazy to get them himself so he sent me instead." _'yes! Quick save, go me.'_ Naruto silently cheered for himself in his head.

The man looked at him for a few seconds before accepting the answer and summing up the total cost. Naruto opened his wallet and found he had more than enough to pay for it. After he was done paying he proceeded to walk out the door and into the blazing sunlight. It was only around 9:00am, so he decided to go back to his apartment.

Strolling casually into his apartment room he flicked his kettle on ,so he could make some instant ramen, and sat down at the table. He grabbed the stuff he bought and started to make different seals. Naruto was pulled out of his own little world when he heard a knock on the door. He sat at his kitchen table awkwardly, not knowing who to expect.

"Naruto! Are you still asleep?! Get your lazy ass up! You have your fight with Neji today remember? Baka! It starts in half an hour!" A female voice screeched from behind his door and he smiled and winced slightly, knowing now who it was.

He eyes widened as he realized what she said. He was fighting Neji today. Flashes of memories flew through his head. The attack, His fight with Gaara, Orochimaru, _Jiji_. He took a deep breath to calm himself, go with the flow. Don't change anything, don't change anything, don't change anything. He had to repeat it over and over but all he could think about was changing everything. He took one more breath before he yelled back. "I'll be right there Sakura-chan!"

He heard a huff from behind the door before he ran and grabbed his leaf headband. Stuffing it into his pocket he went towards the door and opened it. Seeing the angry face of Sakura he scratched the back of his head and said "Sorry Sakura-chan! I slept in by accident!" His young voice was really starting to annoy himself.

"I don't want to hear your excuses! Now hurry up before we're late! I don't want to miss Sasuke-kun's match!" She stormed away in the direction of the stadium leaving Naruto behind.

Sasuke. Another thing Naruto had to worry about. He quickly started to follow Sakura as they jumped on roof tops to get to their destination faster. Upon arriving, Naruto saw most of the others down in the stadium. A mix of emotions began twirling in Naruto's head, seeing everyone look so young and innocent. But he pushed them away as Sakura began speaking to him again.

"Hurry up and get down there Naruto! They can't start until everyone arrives. That reminds me, I don't see Sasuke-kun down there." Her expression became worried as Naruto rolled his eyes, knowing that the teme would be late and his battle put off till last. _'Favoritism.'_ Was Naruto's current thought.

Naruto jumped over the railing and walked towards Shikamaru. He stood beside him, fidgeting while Shikamaru gave him a curious glance and said "Are you nervous about your fight with Neji?"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh loudly and replied "No, I'm not worried about that. Why would I be? I'm gonna kick his ass to the moon and back, you know?" Loud and confident. That's how Naruto always acts, but Shikamaru couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about the blonde.

"But you are worried about something, right?" Shikamaru's eyes bore into his as he ended up looking away. You can't get past Shikamaru with anything. "It's nothing for you to worry about. I just drank some spoiled milk earlier and I was worried it would affect my performance today."

' _Affect my performance? When does Naruto ever use words like this? Never. Something's up and it's bothering him.'_ Shikamaru had to stop his train of thought when the proctor started speaking.

"Listen up everyone, the same rules apply here has when you did the preliminary rounds. I determine if a match is over. I can step in and stop it at any time, no arguments aloud. Now, does anyone know where Sasuke Uchiha is?"

Silence filled the arena, no one was saying anything. "No one knows? Well then, as the rules state, Uchiha Sasuke is Dis-" The procter was interrupted when another examiner appeared and started whispering in his ear. After a few coughs, he cleared his throat and began once again. "Uchiha Sasuke's match will be postponed, Hokage's order.

Sighs of relief could be heard from the people who only came to watch Sasuke's match but there were also grunts of annoyance sounded by the people who found this new information as favoritism. Anyone close to Gaara could feel his killer intent radiating off of him in anger. After a few minutes, the procter started again. "Well then, now that that's over, everyone leave the arena except for Uzumaki Naruto and Neji Hyuuga."

Shikamaru started to walk away, but after a few steps he turned slightly in the direction of Naruto and said. "Good luck." Before continuing on his way. Naruto smiled at the gesture and turned to face Neji. Neji scowled at his happy demeanor. No one noticed that he was really nervous on the inside.

' _Kurama, are you awake?'_ Gaining no reply, he slumped his shoulders. What was he going to do? Same as last time? Groaning he returned to reality as the procter voice echoed through his empty brain. (OI! Take that back! My brain is not empty!) (Shh I'm trying to write here, don't interrupt. Idk sorry for that I'm bored.)

"You should give up, fate has already chosen me as the victor." Sticking his nose high in the air, Neji smirked, trying to intimidate Naruto. Who in his case was to busy racking his brain for a solution to his problem.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" Naruto said, very clueless as to what Neji said which only seemed to irritate Neji even more.

"How dare you mock me!" Neji seethed with anger. "Procter may we start?" Gaining a nod from the proctor as he raised his hand and yelled "Start!"

Immediately after the word left the procter's mouth, Neji bolted forward in a leap of anger while bringing his arm back, intent on hitting Naruto straight on. He appeared right in front of the distracted Naruto, inches away when he thrusted his attack attack hit Naruto dead on in the chest and sent him flying.

 **Bleh, Wasn't good at all. Got lazy near the end sorry. I have exams and I'm really tired. Don't hate me. Let me know what you think so far, I know it's bad but I'm just a dumb kid so yah. I'll update the second chapter next month.**


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